The Story of the Brahman and the Goat

The Crow Night-cloud had tricked the Swan King and helped burn his fort. When King Jewel-plume asked how he had fooled them so easily, Night-cloud said it was because the Swan King was too good to suspect anyone. “An honest man who believes a rogue will be sorry for it,” he said, “just like the Brahman.”

“What Brahman was that?” asked the King. And Night-cloud told this story.

In the forest of Gautama there lived a Brahman. He had bought a goat to offer at a religious ceremony, and he was carrying it home on his shoulder when three rogues spotted him.

“If we could get hold of that goat,” they said to each other, “what a fine trick it would be!” So they ran on ahead and sat down, each at the foot of a different tree, along the road the Brahman would take.

Soon the Brahman reached the first rogue, who called out, “Master, why are you carrying that dog on your shoulder?”

“Dog?” said the Brahman. “This is a goat for the sacrifice!” And on he went.

After a mile or two he came to the second rogue, who called, “What are you doing with that dog, Master?”

This time the Brahman put the goat down on the ground and looked it all over. Then he lifted it onto his back and walked on, his head in a whirl. Good people are slow to think badly of others, and sometimes they pay for trusting.

When the third rogue made the same joke about the dog, the Brahman was quite sure he had been fooled into carrying an unclean animal. He threw the goat down, washed himself thoroughly to get clean, and went home. And the three rogues took the goat and cooked it.

About this tale

This fable comes from the third part of the Hitopadesa in Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation from the Sanskrit. The Crow Night-cloud, a spy, tells it to King Jewel-plume to explain how easy it is to deceive an honest king who trusts everyone.

In Arnold’s version the story stops in the middle while Night-cloud tells a second fable, about a camel at a lion’s court, and then picks up again with the third rogue. That second fable is left out here so this one can be read in one piece.

Read the original: Sir Edwin Arnold, The Book of Good Counsels from the Hitopadesa (Project Gutenberg #13268, The Brahman and the Goat)

Best for ages 6–8 — a short, funny Hitopadesa fable about three tricksters and a man who believed what he was told.

A closer reading

Three speakers appear to provide three independent judgments, but they are repeating one coordinated lie. The space between the trees hides their connection. Repetition therefore creates an impression of confirmation without adding any new evidence.

The Brahman even examines the animal after the second encounter. His later decision gives the supposed consensus more weight than that direct inspection. This does not mean other people’s expertise should always be ignored; it means the independence and basis of a claim matter. The fear of ritual contamination explains his urgency within the story, rather than proving that an animal is inherently morally unclean.

Try this with the story

Draw the road with three trees, then connect the rogues behind the scenes. Compare ‘three independent witnesses’ with ‘one plan repeated three times.’ State what additional evidence would actually change the identification of the goat.

Talk about it

• How does spacing the rogues apart strengthen the trick?
• What does the Brahman’s own inspection show?
• Why are repeated claims not necessarily independent evidence?

More stories like this

• The Duel of the Giants — another Hitopadesa tale from the same part of the book
• The Story of the Tiger and the Traveller — another Hitopadesa fable about being fooled
• The Story of the Terrible Bell — another Hitopadesa tale about believing what others say